Colonial society becomes more complex in 18th century

•Greater Ethnic and Religious diversity• Increased Social Stratification•More developed economic and political institutions

• Immigration, either forced or voluntary, helps to create a uniquely diverse American society• Africans, 20%; Scots-Irish, 7%;

Germans, 6%; 5% various European groups• Immigrants helped to push back

the frontier and created unique frontier culture• Paxton Boys and Regulator

Movement

Ethnic Diversity

Social Stratification

•Segments of society grow extremely wealthy:•New England merchants profit from trade•Southern planters profit from slave labor

Widening Income Gap

•Lack of land in both New England and the South creates class of poor whites that had not previously existed.•New England small farms •Southern tenant farmers

Widows, Orphans, and Homeless

•Wars/Indian attacks create widows and orphans in the colonies.•They become dependent on the state

Bottom of Society• Indentured servants and

prisoners forced to move to the colonies represented the bottom of colonial society.•Below them was the African

slave.• Increasing numbers of slaves

forced some legislatures to unsuccessfully attempt to stop the slave trade.

Compared to England. . .

•The American colonies still maintained high degree of equality•No class of nobility•1/3 the population of England at the time lived in poverty

• Largest industry was agriculture, which varied by region•Manufacturing was

secondary and largely dependent on lumber and naval stores•Other industries included

rum distillation, beaver hat production, iron products• Land speculation = $$$$

• The American colonies were a major part of the Trans-Atlantic trade.• Great Britain was unable to

keep up with the flow of goods coming from the colonies• Forced American merchants

to find “other” customers for their goods.• Britain attempted to stop

this trade• Molasses Act of 1733

Politics in America

• Colonies possessed a wide variety of political institutions, from royal governors to self-elected leaders• Shared the bi-cameral legislature with an upper and lower

house• Also shared principle of self-taxation through representation• Used the power of the purse to great effect• Still did not possess universal male suffrage; property or

religious requirements.

Religion in America

• American colonies were religiously diverse• Dominated by two “established” churches, Anglicans and

Congregationalists• In response to a decline in church membership and

Enlightenment ideas, religion in American experienced the First Great Awakening• Led by ministers like George Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards• The Great Awakening had a profound effect on colonial

society.

The Culture of the Colonies

• Merely copied the art, literature, and architecture of Europe and especially England.• Thanks to New England, the colonies did develop a robust education

system equipped with colleges to train ministers for the “established” churches.• Newspapers replace books as preferred reading.• The American colonies make monumental strides in the idea of

freedom for the press• Zinger trial

Conflicts prior to the French and Indian War

King William’s War

Queen Anne’s War

King George’s War

War of Jenkin’s Ear

Advantages/Disadvantages – English

Advantages1.Large colonial population2.Smaller territory to defend3.William Pitt

Disadvantages4.Still fighting in the European style5.Lukewarm colonial support6.Edward Braddock

Advantages/Disadvantages – French

Advantages1.Friendly relations with the Native Americans.2.Used guerilla warfare.3.Better knowledge of frontier

Disadvantages4.Large territory to defend5.Weaker navy6.Smaller colonial population

Causes

• Short Term – 1.George Washington and

Virginia militia attack French near Fort Duquesne.

2.Both nations claim the Ohio Valley.

Long Term – 1. Previous struggles between

France and England1. King William’s War2. Queen Anne’s War3. King George’s War

2. English conflicts with Native Americans allied with the French.

3. Competing interests in the North American fur trade.

VERY Brief Summary

George Washington leads colonial militia into Ohio Country. Loses to the French at Fort Necessity.General Edward Braddock leads large force of militia and British regulars to take Fort Duquesne. Defeated in the wilderness by French and their Indian Allies.William Pitt, prime minister, orders a shift to take Quebec and Montreal. British captures Louisbourg, Quebec, then Montreal. Forces the French to surrender in 1760

Albany Congress

• Called by the British in order to negotiate continued peace between the American colonies and the Iroquois Confederacy.• Further intended to unites that

colonies in order to better defend them against the French• Ben Franklin’s Albany Plan of

Union was rejected by both the British government and the American colonial legislatures

Treaty of Paris, 1763 ends war

•England gains the rest of Canada, as well as French territory in America east of the Mississippi River.•England gains Spanish Florida• Spain gains the Louisiana Territory and New Orleans.• France retains several sugar islands in the West

Indies as well as two fishing stations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Non-treaty results/Long Term Significance

• American colonies feel greater sense of independence without France looming over their colonies• British will keep large military force in North America.• Defeat of Pontiac’s Uprising removes significant Native American

barriers to westward expansion• Proclamation of 1763 creates rift between American colonists

and the British government over the right of expansion west.• Debts incurred in the war create the need to tax the colonies

which will eventually lead to the American Revolution

Positives/Negatives of British Victory over France

Great Britain acquires a huge empire in North America from the French

Britain must now protect and manage this empire

•Britain will embrace the idea of mercantilism to help pay for the expense of maintaining an empire.

A Nation’s Power

The Amount of Gold and Silver they own

•Mercantilists believed there was a fixed amount of wealth in the world.

In order to get more gold, nations need a good balance of trade

More Exports to others countries. Exports are goods sold to other countries

Less imports from other countries. Imports are goods bought from other countries.

Colo

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They become the source of raw materials and precious metals

They become places to sale finished goods from the home

countries industry.

Home countries pass laws that prevent the colonies from trading

with anyone but the home country

Britain expected America toProvide raw materials required in England

Not make certain products like textiles

By manufactured goods only from England

Not try to become self-sufficient or independent

As early as 1650, Britain passed the Navigation Laws.

Had to ship goods in British

ships

Had to ship goods to Great

Britain first

Certain goods could only be sold to Great

Britain

•Navigation Laws had little impact before 1763 because they were not strictly enforced.•This period was known as salutary neglect.•Mercantilism wasn’t all bad for the colonists•Monopoly on tobacco•Protection of world’s strongest navy

•Mercantilism did prevent the growth of a more complex economy in American colonies

Prime Minister George Grenville

expected America to pay a part of England debt

After 1763, Great Britain

began to strictly enforce

mercantilism

Passed the Sugar Act in 1764. It

was the first tax to make money off of the colonies.

Quartering Act of 1765

•Great Britain had 10,000 Redcoats in America.•This act asked the colonies to provide food and shelter for British troops stationed there.•This was already a strictly enforced and accepted law in Great Britain.

Stamp Act of 1765

•Certain types of paper were required to have a stamp•Playing cards, legal documents, bills of sale, newspapers•Chiefly affected ministers, merchants, printers, and lawyers

Stamp Act Congress of 1765

• Representatives of nine colonies get together in New York to discuss the Stamp Act.• It was ignored by Great Britain, but it did help

to unify the colonies.• Organized nonimportation agreements of

British goods.• Sons and Daughters would tar and feather

British customs officials.• No one was left to sale the stamps and the

act had to be repealed.

Why were Americans so angry?

• They paid ¼ the taxes of people living in England.• In many cases, the taxes were eventually

repealed.• American’s felt they could only be taxed by

their representatives that they elected.• They did not have representation in

Parliament•Grenville argued they had “virtual

representation”